Skills

Extract from Barker Review final report:

“The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)-ConstructionSkills and the House Builders Federation should work together to develop a strategy for substantially  increasing the take-up of apprenticeships from the current level of three apprentices per 100 workers, to bring the UK to the levels of leading international comparators, such as the Netherlands and Germany. The development of this strategy should also explore whether the appropriate number and range of courses exist, and whether housebuilders are investing sufficiently in their own workforce training, as well as addressing the skills needed for modern methods of constructions".

"In the short term, Government should consider increasing support for skills in the construction sector, alongside any increases in the training levy. If skills constraints are not adequately addressed by March 2007, Government should conduct a review of the effectiveness and impact of CITB-ConstructionSkills in the housebuilding industry".

Source: Barker Review Final Report, Recommendation 34

For a progress report on HBF’s response to Barker Recommendation 34, see the General section.

In September 2005, HBF and CITB-ConstructionSkills published the results of an important study of the skills implications of large increase in house building, as recommended by the Barker Review. The executive summary and the report, The Labour Needs of Extra Housing Output: Can the House Building Industry Cope?, was prepared by Professor Michael Ball of the University of Reading. HBF Skills Strategy was launched on 23rd Feb 2006.